Thursday Thirteen 291: Recently Read

Time to recap what I've been reading the last few weeks. While there are a couple romances in this batch, the bulk of it is YA and mystery. As always, click on any cover to find out more about that particular book.














BOOK NOTES:

* ROW 1: The romance selection. Two of these were read for mini reading challenges. Tactical Advantage is book three in Julie Miller's "The Precinct: Task Force" series. In Bed by Bronwyn Jameson was a double bonus for a challenge to read a book either set in Australia or written by an Australian. I'm ashamed to say how long this one was moldering in Mount TBR (sorry Bron!). Rafferty's Wife by Kay Hooper fit a challenge to read a book by an author whose name only has three letters (KAY) and is also my "R" book for the "S-P-R-I-N-G" challenge.

* ROW 2: I figured it was time I caught up on some of the books on loan from my sister, and first up were books 3-5 of the "Kingdom Keepers" series by Ridley Pearson. These are young adult fantasy set in Disney theme parks and are fun, fast reads. Here's hoping I can get book six from them soon!

* ROW 3: Donna Andrews was the April Featured Author for the Cozy Mysteries group at Goodreads. Murder With Peacocks and Murder With Puffins are the first two books in her Meg Langslow series. I'm not sure how I feel about this series. I have the next two books in Mount TBR, so we'll see how I feel about those before continuing the series -- or not. Funeral Food by Kathleen Taylor is the first in her Tory Bauer series, and fit two different challenges (food on the cover and a book set in South Dakota).

* ROW 4: Wall-to-Wall Dead is book six in Jennie Bentley's "Do-It-Yourself" mystery series. Can't wait for book seven! Thread Reckoning is book three in Amanda Lee's "Embroidery" mystery series. Don't Judge is the third book in Gallagher Girl series by Ally Carter. I'm on the hunt for books four and five!

* ROW 5: I plucked Mixed-Up Files off of my shelf for a re-read after hearing of E.L. Konigsburg's death last month. This is one I first read in 6th grade, and it stuck with me.


WHAT ARE YOU READING THESE DAYS?




LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Wordless Wednesday 73: Rain-Kissed Flowers

Photos taken Sunday, May 19, following a thunderstorm.



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Wordless Wednesday

Create With Joy

Teaser Tuesday 174: Wall-to-Wall Dead

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere in the book.
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!


I recently (finally!) had a chance to read book six in the Do-It-Yourself Mystery series by Jennie Bentley, Wall-to-Wall Dead.

"I knew something was wrong."

Derek turned to look at me, and I clarified, "This morning. When she wasn’t at the kitchen window. She was always there. Every morning when we got here, and every night when we left."

(Avery to Derek, Chapter 5)

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Book six in a series—two previous books in this series have been teased: Plaster and Poison (book three) and Flipped Out (book five).
Genre: Cozy mystery

Avery Baker never thought she’d leave Manhattan, until she inherited her aunt’s old Maine cottage and found her true calling—home renovation. But when Avery goes to work restoring a condominium, she discovers it’s another condo owner who’s been condemned . . .

Avery and her partner, Derek, are fixing up a cute little condo in homey Waterfield, Maine, hoping for a quick turnaround and some extra money. It seems like a simple project—and Avery is looking forward to using her big-city experience with small spaces.

But they didn’t expect to have their every move watched by the resident busybody in the condo, Hilda Shaw, who loves snooping on everyone’s comings and goings. When the busybody becomes a dead body, Avery suspects foul play. Soon she’s doing some snooping of her own—and it seems everyone in the complex has a secret. Could one of them be worth killing for? Avery needs to work fast, before someone decides to fix her. . . for good.

Skywatch Friday 27

Blossoming trees against a clouding sky, taken last week.

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Skywatch Friday 

Thursday Thirteen 290: Spring Walk

The weather is finally warming up here, and I have been able to get out for a couple long walks. Here are a few photos taken last week.




The bunnies are out in droves!




Bird feather




Green leaves! Of course, the downside to this is all the pollen in the air.




Weather-worn fence seen from bike path.





Wisconsin State Flower: Violet




Gage plum blossoms . . . I think.




Look at that sun shine through!




The wild turkeys were enjoying a nearby meadow.







White violet




Dandelions are everywhere!




Tulips of all varieties are finally coming up.




LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Wordless Wednesday 72: Mama Robin

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Wordless Wednesday

Create With Joy

Teaser Tuesday 173: Tactical Advantage

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere in the book.
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!


Recently finished: Tactical Advantage by Julie Miller. This is book three of a series.

Muffled footsteps, crunching over the snow, scurried across the back of the alley. Tensing at the new disturbance, Annie swung her gaze around into the darkness.

(Chapter 2)

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Tactical Advantage (The Precinct: Task Force, book 3)
Genre: Rom Suspense

His only job was to protect her—not to get her into bed.

When his coinvestigator was attacked just moments after Detective Nick Fensom left the scene, he swore he'd never let her get hurt again. Thanks to their tense relationship, criminologist Annie Hermann wasn't happy to have Nick as her newly appointed protector. And although Nick couldn't blame her, being together 24/7 caused him to see Annie in a whole new light. Before long, he couldn't stop picturing the beautiful brunette wrapped up in his arms—and in his sheets. But allowing unfamiliar feelings to get in the way of the job was completely unprofessional . . . especially once Annie discovered the evidence that could cost her her life.

Tulips

One of the surprises since moving late last summer is that there are, apparently, dozens of tulips planted in front of our building. Unfortunately, due to the cold spring and fluxuating temps, they've been rather slow in coming up. We've gone from 82F last Tuesday down to mid-40s and three consecutive nights of freeze warnings. Here's hoping Sunday night was the last of those we'll see this season!

Now you see it . . .

I've been watching this snowpile, about a block from where I live, for the past few weeks. I have a feeling it will be completely gone before the week is out. 





April 27




May 04




May 11



Thursday Thirteen 289: National Teacher Appreciation Week

May 6 - 10 is National Teacher Appreciation Week, a time to thank all the teachers who have made a difference in our lives, or the lives of ones' children. I was fairly lucky growing up, in that I never had a bad teacher until I got to college. Sadly, I had two professors there who, though they knew their subjects well, were horrible teachers. Here are thirteen teachers who made a difference in my life.


Mrs. Von Felt — Second grade; gave me a copy of The Secret Garden.

Ms. Parfrey — Grade school librarian, who always new what kind of book I'd like. When my mom died a few years ago, I found a letter Ms. Parfrey had sent home to my parents, praising my library skills. I set it aside to scan and store in a safe place . . . and somehow misplaced it. Yeah, still trying to figure out what I did with it.

Mr. Tracy — 8th grade English and History. Four years later, when told I was majoring in French and English in college, he simply smiled and nodded, "I'm not at all surprised."

Mrs. Bayer — High school English (deceased).

Mr. Chellevold — High school English. I blame him for writing down and looking up every unfamiliar word I encounter to this day. Ah, frontier words!

Mr. Piddington — High school English. The reason I still keep a journal (it started as a class assignment).

Mme Vaillancourt — High school French. She taught us how to jump the Paris Metro turnstiles and took us clubbing.

Senora Calderon — High school Spanish teacher, who thought I should go into linguistics. Sometimes I wonder if I should have followed her advice. (Yes, I had both French V and Spanish I senior year in HS—plus I had just returned from a summer exchange to Norway, so spoke a bit of Norwegian as well.)

Mr. Buehl — High school forensics coach.

Mme Krause — College French (deceased). One of my favorite and more eccentric professors. We kept in touch after I graduated, until her illness about a year before she passed.

Dr. Tarro — College French professor and advisor. He gifted me with a collection of Jane Austen at graduation, "because it's what I imagine you writing." Gee, no expectations there!

Dr. Stevens — College English, some of my favorite lit classes. He made me like Huck Finn, which I hated after HS English.

Dr. Vopat — College English. His writing courses were sooo much fun.


YOUR TURN: Who are some of the teachers who influenced your life?



LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Wordless Wednesday 71: Lilacs

Last year everything was four to six weeks ahead of schedule. This year? At least two weeks behind. No lilacs blooming yet, so I thought I'd share a few from April 2012.

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Wordless Wednesday

Create With Joy